Chapter 1388 - 371: Sacrifice

Chapter 1388: Chapter 371: Sacrifice

Minister Frier’s speech received unanimous approval from everyone; beneath the European war lies various crises that war cannot resolve, which instead exacerbate the accumulation of contradictions.

Of course, if one could emerge as the final victor of the war, it would definitely bring certain dividends to delay the outbreak of crises, just like the former United Kingdom.

The result of the previous war was that the United Kingdom’s dominance continued, whereas France, though outwardly glamorous, didn’t gain any substantial benefits, as war reparations were nearly impossible to obtain due to Germany’s economic crisis, and the goal of completely subduing Germany wasn’t achieved because of obstruction from the United Kingdom and the United States.

No wonder during World War II, France chose to surrender directly; they probably didn’t believe their allies would guarantee their post-war interests, after all, World War I was a precedent.

"What Minister Frier said is correct, we should reflect on the lessons war has taught our countries, it is now time to end this damned war."

After Frier’s speech ended, Austria-Hungary’s diplomatic representative Mautendorf was the first to jump out in support.

Austria-Hungary can be said to be the country currently with the least desire in the war, after all, the current war is focused on the Western and Southern fronts, neither of which are Austria-Hungary’s main targets.

To a certain extent, Austria-Hungary does not want its two allies to gain too much benefit, especially the Ottoman Empire.

The Ottoman Empire can be said to be a complete rival to Austria-Hungary; the temporary union between the two is entirely because they previously shared a common strong enemy, which was Tsarist Russia.

However, when Russia’s threat disappeared, the foundation for cooperation between the two countries naturally no longer existed. Although Russia is still large in size, and due to the Labor Party, ideologically it has become more dangerous, this is something that the governments of both countries should be concerned about in the future.

Now, Austria-Hungary not only doesn’t want to continue cooperating with the Ottoman Empire but also wants to break up this century-old enemy like Tsarist Russia, and the Ottoman Empire, if it had the strength, presumably would think the same, moreover, Austria-Hungary’s national conditions are also very suitable for splitting.

The two have never been able to reach consensus on Balkan Peninsula issues, not to mention, they are obstacles on each other’s paths of expansion.

The Ottoman Empire is a bit better, after all, it is located at the crossroads of three continents, occupying the Black Sea, Mediterranean, Red Sea, and Indian Ocean, offering more choices for expansion.

Whereas Austria-Hungary’s geopolitical situation is far too poor, virtually only expansion into the Middle East could break through the limitations of market and raw material production areas and become a world superpower.

The Italian Peninsula and Balkan Peninsula are too small in area and economic scale to meet Austria-Hungary’s needs, moreover, the Italian Peninsula is not easy to break through either.

In other directions, Austria-Hungary faces competition from Germany, yet it lacks the capability to compete with Germany whether in military or industrial terms, both are far inferior to Germany.

Only the Ottoman Empire as an ally not only has weak military strength but also is large in size, so Austria-Hungary’s future expansion direction should definitely focus on the Ottoman Empire.

Therefore, Austria-Hungary now most wants to end the war, digesting the results of this war, and then waiting for an opportunity.

Moreover, Austria-Hungary is already very satisfied with the current gains; even conquering more land and population would be bad for Austria-Hungary, as it lacks the capacity to digest such gains.

This is why Mautendorf was the first to jump out in support of Minister Frier’s peace proposal.

Minister Frier cast an appreciative glance at Mautendorf’s representative, after all, the two countries have always had a good relationship, and more so with Austria-Hungary taking the lead, providing a good demonstration for the meeting.

However, clearly someone wasn’t impressed with Mautendorf, calling him an Austria-Hungary brute, sarcastically remarking: "Ha, Representative Mautendorf is quite carefree, but at the beginning, it’s unknown which country sparked the conflict, leading to today’s situation in Europe."

"If you hadn’t attacked Serbia, there would have been no chain reaction in Europe, leading to the outbreak of a world war."

"So, Austria-Hungary is the original culprit of the war and now says it supports ending the war, which is simply a humiliation to the word peace, this hypocritical acting is truly disgusting."

This statement made Mautendorf quite angry; he turned his gaze to the United Kingdom’s seat, the speaker was none other than United Kingdom Representative Fromm.

Mautendorf said, "Humph, Mr. Fromm, indeed our Austria-Hungary made some mistakes, but we are far more righteous than the United Kingdom; we have ample evidence showing that Serbia had your support back then."

"So, the most hypocritical is your country; without your backing, could those Serbian fanatic warmongers have had the guts to challenge the dignity and sovereignty of a great power?"

"Moreover, Serbia’s issue was entirely self-inflicted, they tried to split the Empire’s inherent territory, if you support the Serbians, you should lead by example."

"First demonstrate how to let the Scottish and Irish become independent, unless Mr. Fromm admits Scottish, Irish, and even Wales are not your country’s territory, then we would recognize that the lesson for Serbia was a mistake."